Information for Students

 

Eligibility Requirements

All students who join the UROP MUST meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Have enrolled in a full-time degree-bearing program and completed at least two semesters (e.g. Fall and Spring) at HKUST (Only students in their Year 2 summer or above can apply for UROP 3200)
  • For UROP1000: Attainment of a Cumulative Grade Average (CGA) of 3.00 or above^
  • For UROP1100: Attainment of a Cumulative Grade Average (CGA) of 3.30 or above^ (For those who have completed UROP1000 under the supervision of the same faculty member, this requirement can be waived)
  • In receipt of a "No Objection Letter" (NOL) from the HKSAR Immigration Department* 
  • Have received [TWO passing grades in UROP 1100] OR [a passing grade in UROP 1100 and UROP 2100] from the same faculty supervisor as pre-requisites (for UROP 3200 only)

^UROP participants are expected to fulfil the CGA requirement of 3.0 (for UROP 1000) or 3.3 (for UROP 1100). Effective from Summer 2023-24, under exceptional circumstances, if supervisors identify any students exhibiting strong research potentials and agree to supervise, a strong justification with substantial grounds must be submitted to the UROP Office to support the student’s application. Such justification should be at least one page long and should demonstrate student’s research competencies, including but not limited to:

  • Student’s achievement of related awards, contests and/or other activities
  • Student’s previous research experience and/or research skills
  • Student’s academic performance in related course(s) and/or coursework

Apart from the supporting letter from the supervisors, students should submit a study plan in which they specify how they will manage their projects throughout the semester. Students should upload both documents together with the CV when submitting their applications.

Please note that students are still required to fulfill the semester requirement. The UROP Office reserves the right of final decision on the eligibility of any students under exceptional consideration. 

*applicable to non-local students applying for UROP1000 in the summer session only

Remarks:

  1. Visiting, Exchange-out students or students with "Leave" program status are excluded from the UROP eligibility.
  2. Students with the same supervisor for both their Final Year Project / Thesis (FYP/T) / project course and the UROP project must ensure that the entire UROP course series (UROP1000/1100/2100/3100/3200/4100) constitutes no more than 50% of their FYP / T / project course.

 

Application Procedures

Step 1

Go to the UROP Project Listing and search for your interested projects. Read the project information carefully and consult the supervisor before submitting an online application.

Step 2

Submit an online application by logging in to the UROP Online System with your ITSC account, and upload the following application documents:

APPLICATION DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

  • Unofficial transcript (available for download on SIS in PDF format)
  • CV (for application review by the project supervisor)
  • Copy of NOL (applicable to non-local students applying for UROP1000 only)

Step 3

 Application will be reviewed by the project supervisor and approved by the UROP Office. Upon receipt of the approval email, follow the instructions to enroll in the corresponding UROP course on the Student Information System (SIS) by the add/drop deadline

 

Important Notes on Application

  • You are advised to discuss the specifics and expected learning outcomes of the project with the supervising faculty member prior to submitting an online application.
  • Each student is allowed to submit ONE application only per semester. If you would like to change or cancel an application, please send a request to urop@ust.hk and copy the project supervisor on the email.
  • To withdraw from the UROP course after receiving a firm offer, please send a withdrawal request to urop@ust.hk and copy the project supervisor on the email. A course drop request should be made before the add/drop deadline. Failure to complete an enrolled UROP course without making any drop requests will result in a FAIL GRADE.
  • For students who receive a conditional offer for UROP1000, you CANNOT begin with the project until you submit a copy of your NOL to the UROP Office.

 

Completion Requirements

To ensure that students have sufficient time to immerse themselves fully in quality research, they are restricted to one UROP project per semester. As a general guideline, students are expected to devote at least three project hours per week* on any given research project, although the actual level of commitment shall be determined between the supervising faculty member and the student. 

*Students are advised to discuss with faculty supervisors on how the projects can be conducted. 

Upon completion of each course, students are required to submit a report in conference paper or journal paper format. Reports should be written in English and restricted to 8-12 pages in length (Times New Roman font size 12, double-spaced, single column, with no more than four pages of figures or tables), including a 100- to 120-word abstract. The reports should be written by students themselves and include proper citation. 

Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in teaching and learning, individual UROP supervisors have the discretion regarding the use of GenAI, such as ChatGPT, in UROP course level. Students are recommended to discuss with your supervisor about the AI policy for your project. Students are reminded that AI may be used for consultation but not for the final write-up of your research report.

Students working in the same team are allowed to submit one final report as a group, with each student clearly indicating his/her part(s) of contribution to the project in the report (and poster; UROP 3200 students only). 

The report should be sent to your project supervisor for approval first, before uploading it to the UROP Online System by the specific deadline. 

 

comPLETION OF rcr TRAINING

Starting from Spring 2022-23, all UROP students are required to complete an online training of “Responsible Conduct of Research” (RCR), which includes 10 required (Modules 1-10) and supplemental modules (if any, as required by individual supervisors), as a compulsory learning activity of UROP. For more details, please refer to the Office’s announcement.

Students must complete the training within one month after the end of the add/drop period, at the latest, and submit the completion report to the UROP Office via email at urop@ust.hk within one week after the aforesaid deadline.

UROP students who have completed and passed the training once do NOT need to complete the training and submit the report again in future semesters. 

More guidelines:

System Guidebook

You can check out the System Guidebook for more information on how to manage your UROP applications.